teaching & coaching

This is the Sound of Voices Two

Writing is solitary, to be sure. But sometimes we benefit greatly from another perspective. Sometimes our own desire and motivation to write is not enough. Perhaps we need specific advice on the best way to structure a large project. Or thoughtful instruction and feedback on elements of craft, including potent description, dialogue, action, interior monologue, narrative arc, and transitions. Or we simply need tools to help us get started or re-started when we lose traction.

Jeannine has worked individually with writers for more than fifteen years, combining her passion and experience as a teacher with her award-winning editorial career and extensive experience as a published writer in order to help writers achieve their goals. Here's what others have had to say about her writing:

"Powerful and urgent with a stunning sense of language and a compelling metaphoric voice. This novel is emotionally authentic and gripping. " ~Sue William Silverman, award-winning author of three memoirs, a poetry collection, and a craft book on writing

"A writer with an extraordinary gift for prose that's complex, imagistic, and startling." ~Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows

In addition to teaching through Elephant Rock and her full-time role as writer/editor at the University of Minnesota, Jeannine serves as Nonfiction Editor for Orison Books, staff reviewer for Up the Staircase Quarterly, volunteer writing mentor for the Association of Writers and Writing Program's Writer-to-Writer Program and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW), and instructor for MPWW's in-the-prison classes. Jeannine draws from two decades of journalism and creative nonfiction writing, with several published nonfiction books and a children's picture book. She earned her MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts and her creative work has appeared in many journals and won awards including the Curt Johnson Prose Award, the Proximity Essay Prize, and the Master's Review Emerging Writers Award, plus two Pushcart Prize nominations. She recently completed her first novel and has successfully helped writers complete more than a dozen published books, nonfiction and fiction. Most of all, she supports writers with crucial tools for tapping into the creative back channel and opening to the surprise of original voice ... again and again.

Many Ways of Working

Writing Lessons and Coaching Sessions are typically one hour long and can be weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Focus can be on craft, structuring a project and goal setting, reversing writer's block, creativity building, feedback and revision, or all of the above as needed. In person or distance. Rate: $110/hour

EditorialJeannine has worked as an editor for regional and national magazines and publishers, and has won awards from the Medill School of Journalism for editing. Jeannine also has extensive experience with long-term and book-length projects (coaching, collaborative writing, ghosting, developmental editing, and manuscript evaluation and critique). In-person or distance. Rate: by the project.

AcademicJeannine works with students, from middle-schoolers through PhD candidates, as well as with faculty. At the University of Minnesota, she helps faculty members in the School of Public Health shape manuscripts for high-level peer-reviewed science journals. She has also helped faculty write and revise book manuscripts in order to meet publication standards for major publishers. Rate: $110/hour

Other No two projects are alike. The easiest way to determine the best way to work together is through conversation. Email Jeannine for more information or call 612-801-2566 for a free consultation about your project or visit her website for more about her work.